Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Bill Walker says he will probably run for re-election but currently has more pressing issues on his mind — including crafting a tax bill that he hopes will garner support from lawmakers.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Walker says it’s imperative that revenue issues be addressed this year. He expects to unveil a tax bill for consideration sometime yet this year.

The state is grappling with a multibillion-dollar deficit amid continued low oil prices.

Lawmakers funded this year’s budget out of savings after they failed to come to terms on a long-term fiscal plan. Since then, two bond rating agencies have downgraded the state’s credit rating.

Walker says he’s not sure how many letters the state needs to get from rating agencies to spur action.

HOMER, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Public Offices Commission has assessed a $725 penalty against Heartbeat of Homer – Assembly Recall, the political group that registered to advocate for recalling three Homer City Council members.

The Homer News reported Friday the Alaska Public Offices Commission claims in a July 20 letter Heartbeat of Homer filed Independent Expenditure reports 29 days late.

The Alaska Public Offices Commissions says Heartbeat of Homer reported expenditures made June 1 and June 10 in a July 10 Independent Expenditure report. Three corrected reports also show expenditures made June 12 and June 15. The Alaska Public Offices Commission Campaign Disclosure Coordinator Tom Lopez says Political groups can report expenditures made over a short period of time, but the reports must be made within 10 days of the first expenditure.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska State Troopers investigation found Fairbanks police were “legally justified” in their use of deadly force in a May 25 shooting.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports a news release from the police department Thursday relayed the results of the investigation into the shooting of Shawn Buck on a South Fairbanks Mitchell Expressway overpass.

The release states Buck fired a revolver at law enforcement officers “numerous times” during a pursuit, and “at the time the officers fired their weapons, they all believed that they or their fellow officers were about to be killed or gravely injured by Buck.”

Buck had a felony warrant at the time related to a 2014 theft conviction. The release states the white pickup truck Buck was driving was stolen.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A neighbor of a 39-year-old Utah woman killed aboard an Alaska cruise says it’s completely out of character for the woman’s husband to be accused of such violence.

Dana Nicholls told The Associated Press that he has lived near Kristy and Kenneth Manzanares for about 10 years and they appeared to be the perfect family. He says they were celebrating their wedding anniversary on the cruise this week.

Kristy Manzanares was found dead in a blood-splattered cabin Tuesday night. Her husband has been charged with murder. The FBI says he told an acquaintance he did it because she laughed at him.

Nicholls has set up an online fundraising page for the couple’s three daughters, saying they’re just like his children.

WASHINGTON — Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska broke with their party and opposed the Senate vote to move ahead on health care.

The two women drew criticism from President Donald Trump, who said their votes were “very, very sad for them.”

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, hailed the votes as “an act of political courage” that will be remembered by history.

Collins, in her fourth term, is a moderate known for working with Democrats and announced last year she would not vote for Trump for president.
Murkowski is in her fourth term representing the nation’s largest state and chairs the Senate Energy Committee.

Both lawmakers have expressed concerns about deep Medicaid cuts in the GOP bill.

FAIRBANKS — Alaska State Troopers say a man who is accused of pointing a loaded gun at his girlfriend last week after she rejected his marriage proposal has been charged with felony assault.

The man’s girlfriend of three years told troopers he became enraged when she turned him down, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported, so he racked the slide on his loaded pistol and pointed it at her.

The woman told troopers she ran out the back door of the Fairbanks roadhouse they were at and hid in bushes before a friend found her.

A passing motorist picked them up.

Miguel Angel Serrano-Moya, 25, told troopers he was drinking and couldn’t remember anything that happened court records show.

He was charged with felony third-degree assault, misdemeanor fourth-degree weapons misconduct and misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal mischief.